NekoIncardine writes:
''"Shmup" is a popular shortened term for shoot-'em-up, and the word carries many connotations among gamers. Many venerable classics exist in this genre, from as early as Space Invaders to the 1942 and Raiden series, right up to possibly the most hardcore, high-difficulty subgenre of modern video games. The Japanese word for this subgenre is danmaku, which translates into English as "bullet hell," "bullet wall," or "How the Hell am I Supposed to Dodge This When the Shots are Denser than my Character?" The only rules consistent to danmaku are an emphasis on massive numbers of on-screen objects to evade, with players having a tiny "hitbox" (area on the character sprite or model that actually counts for collisions) to aid evasion. Many, many experiments and creations exist in this genre (one of the most popular among doujin and small independent creators), and 2001's Ikaruga is among the best within it - for very, very good reason.
There was a fair amount of excitement to be had when Ikaruga, which regularly nets over $100 when sold on eBay, was announced for the Xbox Live Arcade, with full high-definition upgrades, achievements, and most interestingly, Xbox Live two-player co-op. Microsoft scored a coup with this game's release, and Treasure spent the time to make it good. The end result is a title that is worth your points for an exceptional experience; Ikaruga has been developed to quality levels that are shared by very few games, downloadable or otherwise, in the entire gaming industry.''
